The Honourable Charles Chen | |
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Vice Chancellor Chen in April 2015 | |
39th Vice Chancellor of Cygnia | |
Assumed office 6 February, 2015 | |
Monarch | Theodore V |
Chancellor | Dorian Brandt |
Preceded by | Wayne Swan |
Senator from Campbell | |
In office 23 January, 2011 – 23 January, 2015 | |
President | John Hogg |
Constituency | Campbell |
Member of the Cygnian House of Representatives for Campbell's 2nd District | |
Assumed office 23 January, 2015 | |
Preceded by | Bridget Leyman |
In office 23 January, 2007 – 23 January, 2011 | |
Preceded by | Colin Farwood |
Succeeded by | Bridget Leyman |
Personal details | |
Born | Chen Xiangming (陈 祥明) 2 October, 1980 (age 43) Esperance, Auralia Cygnia |
Citizenship | Cygnian |
Political party | Democratic Labour |
Domestic partner | Kelly Barnes |
Children | Erin (b. 2010) |
Residence | 1 Redfield Circle, Swanstone Carnarvon (private) |
Alma mater | University of Adelaide |
Occupation | Doctor |
Religion | Non-affiliated |
Charles Xiangming "Charlie" Chen (Chinese: 陈 祥明; Hanyu pinyin: Chén Xiángmíng; born 2 October, 1980), is a Cygnian doctor and politician currently serving as the 39th Vice Chancellor of Cygnia since 2015, and is the current Deputy Leader of the Democratic Labour Party, led by Chancellor Dorian Brandt. Chen has previously represented Campbell's 2nd electoral district in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011, and Campbell as a Senator from 2011 until becoming Vice Chancellor in 2015.
Chen was born to Chinese immigrants in Esperance, Auralia, in 1980, and lived there for ten years before moving to Campbell. He attained a medical degree at the University of Adelaide in 2002. Chen left the medical profession to pursue a political career, and was elected to the House of Representatives in 2006, becoming one of the youngest MCs serving in the 55th Congress. He chose to run for a Senate seat in the 2010 elections, resigning from the House of Representatives and becoming a Senator in the 56st Congress in 2011. He served half a term before resigning to contest for his old seat in the 2014 election, in order to assume the Deputy Leadership of the Democratic Labour Party and the Vice Chancellorship in 2015.
Chen unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Labour leadership in 2014, dropping out early in the race. In the 2014 federal elections, Dorian Brandt chose Chen to be his running mate in the race, which they won. Chen became the first atheist, and the first individual of Chinese descent, to be Vice Chancellor of Cygnia.
As Vice Chancellor in the Brandt Government, Chen has overseen the education reforms enacted by the Chancellor, as well as those to the immigration system.
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